Improvement in carriage seats and tops



E. L. YANCEY.

Patented Sep. 241, 178472.

Improvement iin 'aalfriage-Seas) and Tops.

UNITED vSTATES PATENT CFFIGE.

Y EDWIN L. YANCEY, OF BATAVIA, NEW YORK.'

IMPROVEMENT IN CARRIAGE SEATS AND TOPS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 131,585, dated September 24, 1 872; anteflated September 21, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN L. YANCEY, of Batavia, in the county of Genesee and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in Carriage Seats and Tops, of which the following is a specification:

My improvement belongs to that class in which the carriage-top is slid back upon the seat by the use of a sliding rail and lever, so as to facilitate getting in and out. The invention consists in the arrangement of parts attached to the seat, as hereinafter described.

In the drawing, Figure l is a plan of a seat with my improvement applied thereto; Fig. 2, an elevation; Figs. 3 and 4, diagrams showing the method of connecting the sliding attachment with the seat; and Fig. 5, a perspective view of one of the corner-irons.

A is a carriage-seat, having the ordinary skirt or rolling flange B. Gis the sliding rail or rod, to which the carriage-top (not shown) is attached, through the medium of the ordinary joints or props a a. This rail is made in a single piece, and consists simply of the straight lengths b b and the rear bow b. The carriage-top is allowed to fold cr unfold in the ordinary way, but as the rail slides back and forward the top is carried with it. At

the rear corners of the seat are corner-irons D D,attached by bolts c c, or otherwise, so as to be readily removable. These irons have each double sockets d d at right angles to each other. The sockets d receive the ends b b of the rail, while` the sockets d receive the journals of a cross-rod, E, which extends from side to side across the back skirt of the seat without other attachments. The axis E has crank-arms f f extending forward, one or both of them forming levers G, which rest at the front of the seat, near the ends, within reach of the operator in getting in or out. To the arms f and to the rear joints a are pivoted connecting-rods H H. By this arrangement it will be seen that when the lever G is raised the rail C will be thrown back, as shown by the dotted lines, Figs. 1 and 2, and consequently the carriage-top will be thrown back with it. This presents an open space at the front of the carriage for the occupants to get in and out with facility. The lengths b b of the rail are connected with the skirts B B of the seat, either by a bolt, g, which passes through a slot, 71., as shown in Fig. 3, or'by means of a hooked lug, g', which clasps the end of the skirt, as shown in Fig. 4. This allows a free sliding movement of the rail, but yet holds the parts securely in contact. The front ends of the rails when thrown clear forward, strike into sockets l1. l1. of the handles K. This locks the rails against over strain by the top. To the corner-irons D are attached straps L L, which extend down the corners of the seat, and have slots z' c' at their ends that engage with headed pins la k of the seat.. This connection strengthens and stiffens the angle-irons, and yet, when the latter are lifted off they lift off with them, leaving the seat entirely clear.

In some instances I contemplate using in` the rear a toggle, M, engaging with the rail C and back of the seat, as shown in Fig. 2. When the rail is thrown forward, as in black lines, the toggle hangs loose; but when thrown back, asin dotted lines, it straightens, and stiffens, and forms a brace to the rail to sustain the overweight of the carriage-top at the rear. This constitutes one special feature of novelty in my invention. If desired, a handle may be connected with the toggle by which the rail can be thrown in or out.

I am aware that sliding rails carrying the carriage-top back have before been known. I do nt claim to be the inventor of such, broadly. My invention consists in the special arrangement of parts above described, by which the construction is made much simpler, cheaper, and more effective. By the extending of the axis E across the seat, and the connection of the arms H H, both ends of the rail are moved alike, and there can be 11o binding or twisting of the apparatus. The arms H, when thrown forward, have their front joints resting below the line of the rear ones, by which means they form braces to hold the rail from sliding back accidentally and when the rail is slid back said arms form supports to its weight. The whole apparatus is removed from the seat by simply loosening the screws c and the connections g y', and the seat is thus left as bare and untrammeled as the ordinary carriage-seat.

and operating substantially as described.

3. I also claim the toggle M, when combined with the seat A, corner plate D, having two sockets, d d', and the sliding rail C, in the manner and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWIN L. YANCEY.

Witnesses S. COOPER, JEROME RowAN. 

